Radici Project

Written By

Erica Commisso

Photographs By

Carbelle Djossa

In italian, the word “radici” means roots, and Emiliano Del Frate and Kayo Ito felt like it was the perfect word to describe their passion project, a restaurant born out of love.

The husband-and-wife duo met while working on the hospitality scene in Toronto, and eventually got married, spending years travelling Europe and Japan before returning to the birthplace of their story. They decided to open The Radici Project, a restaurant that celebrates their individual stories - Del Frate’s upbringing in Italy, Ito’s in Japan, and the Canadian roots of their romance.

The result is a self-designed restaurant complete with exposed brick, natural wood and plenty of light to showcase a seasonal, locally inspired menu that’s designed with sustainability and food waste reduction in mind. Everything is sourced from local farmers and small businesses, and a large portion of every ingredient is used to craft fusion dishes unique to the Radici Project menu. Del Frate, who serves as the head chef, cooks up offerings effortlessly combine Italian and Japanese ingredients and techniques and certainly boast no shortage of flavour.

“At the end of it, this place is us. It’s all us,” Del Frate says. “It’s what we think, it’s what we feel. It’s like if I built a house and had people over, it’s like coming into our home.”

“We try to use all the parts of our ingredients,” Del Frate says. “So between the tasting menu and the a la carte menu, we have three dishes with the crab.” The shell is paired with almond foam and New Brunswick caviar and placed on top of a Japanese seaweed salad as part of the tasting menu.

The pasta course is served with a noodle from North Italy, coloured pink because its made with beets. “The sweetness helps with the sauce, the tajarin,” Del Frate says, “and the garum, an ancient Roman fish sauce, connects the two worlds - Italian and Japanese.” A helping of smoked caviar sits on top of the pasta.

The cappellacci, similar to tortellini, is stuffed with a Genovese ragu and served with a housemade dashi to create a lot of umami. “I think its the perfect pairing between Italian and Japanese cultures,” Del Frate says. “Fresh pasta and dashi are the basics.”

To put his own twist on traditional Japanese chicken karaage, Del Frate uses a chicken wing instead of the traditional thigh. “It is intended to connect all three countries, our roots in Japanese, Italian, and Canadian cuisine.” Its breaded as in karaage style and, as an homage to an Italian classic, stuffed with roasted potatoes.

“The veal is made with from all Ontario ingredients,” Del Frate says. “The parsnip we char on the charcoal, and in burning it all the caramelized sugar from the vegetable comes out, and it will feel very sweet on your palate.” Its served with coriander flour, too, and Del Frate recommends eating half of the veal with the flour and half without it to truly understand the power in the little ingredients.

Playing on an Italian post-meal tradition, the dessert is a honey milk pollen chamomile tart. Del Frate says its not intended to be too sweet, but rather as a palate-cleanser and a stomach soother after a large meal. “It comes from my memories,” he says. “After every dinner, I remember having chamomile tea and honey or milk to relax me, to help me unwind.”

The tasting menu can be complemented with non-alcoholic drink pairings, which boasts a selection of drinks with housemade kombucha as a base. The Parrot Tonic, for example, is made with pear juice, carrot juice, lemon juice, simple syrup, aquafaba and tonic water.

The Kombucha spritz is served with umeboshi and the housemade kombucha, topped with a helping of soda water.

The forest walk is made with a fresh pine branch garnish, a housemade beet kombucha, black tea and fir syrup, all of which are made in house, and topped with soda water. When not in season, the pine branches switch to a dried version.

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